Playing the Long Game

So, as I've mentioned a few times lately, I find myself in a transitional place. My most recent short story collection, Things You Need, released from Crystal Lake Publishing in September 2019. It's done okay, but not nearly as well as previous books. I've speculated a little bit as to why. Maybe because it's essentially my fourth "linked collection." Maybe I've played that out too much. Maybe I've played in my own little mythos of Clifton Heights too long. Whatever the reason, despite how I feel about it's quality, it seems to be gathering fewer reviews, and the sales seem to be slower than previous books. 

I'd be lying if I didn't say that bummed me out for awhile. Eventually, however, I realized that I'd arrived at a crossroads. It was time for me to write something different. Not in Clifton Heights. Not quiet horror. Something that's a genre-mash, fast-paced, and bloody. A novel. And, I needed to take the time and effort to find an agent.

The key word in that sentence being time.

It's been a little over ten years since my first book, Hiram Grange and the Chosen One, was released. Since then, I've seen four more books published which I'm very proud of. They've mostly been reviewed well, and though I don't know much about sales, they've hung around in the rankings pretty persistently, not blowing up the charts, but not sinking to the bottom of the ocean. I've climbed out of the semi-pay short story bracket to pro-pay (recently, I sold another pro pay story, "A Circle That Ever Returneth" to Cemetery Gates Media for their upcoming anthology, Other Voices, Other Tombs). 

I've also sold two novellas to Cemetery Dance Publications, which are forthcoming. I've written as a paid freelance reviewer for The Press & Sun Bulletin, I was the Review Editor for Shroud Magazine, I worked as a submissions reader for Cemetery Dance, and am currently the Review Editor for Cemetery Dance Online, as well as a contributor, with my monthly column "Revelations." For two years I wrote a quarterly column for Lamplight Magazine, "Horror 101," which was born from my podcast segment on Tales to Terrify, of the same name.

I list all those things not to blow my own trumpet, but to remind myself of what I've been allowed to accomplish, or be a part of. 10 years ago, I had one or two token-pay short stories to my name. Many folks started out in the same situation. Many of those folks haven't continued on, for a variety of reasons. And I've been blessed with these achievements because I adopted one central ideal: I would go to work, every day. Put my head down. Push on. 

Over the past year, that's been hard to do. I've struggled with fatigue, depression, anxiety (which I'm being treated for), and other personal matters. I've had to prioritize family and my marriage over writing. Same thing with my job as a teacher.  In the midst of those things, I still made a few sales, and sold the second novella to CD. 

Even so, it felt like I was slowing down, and because of that, I felt like my career was in danger of grinding to a permanent halt. As the the sales for Things You Need trickled, I really wondered if this was it. I felt stuck, and didn't know what to do. Writing a novel and pitching it to an agent would take time, and that scared me. I also struggle with a nearly manic need for affirmation, so the thought of disappearing from the horror publishing landscape terrified me.

And then it hit me like a thunderbolt. 

I had a monthly online column for one of the best horror small press/specialty publishers in the genre. I could always write more reviews for them. I got here by blogging about and posting on social media about writers I loved; the masters, and my colleagues. Also, those two CD novellas haven't come out yet, and will mostly likely come out in the time it takes me to write novel and pitch it. I still have a short story solicitation I'm working on, I just sold another pro-pay story, and I'm sure I'll occasionally sell more. 

On the heels of this, fellow writer and colleague CW Briar pitched the idea of starting a Youtube Channel dedicated to reviewing horror movies. I realized that this was yet another way I could continue to interact with the horror community. If I chose not to, I didn't have to disappear, as I continued to do the work.

And then something happened which gave me a lot of hope, and convinced me this was not only the right attitude to have, it was the only attitude to have. Mind you, it comes from another writer's experience, and that's always dicey: in no way am I expecting that my experience will turn out to be like his. In any case....

Enter Maurice Broaddus.

In 2010 through 2011, Maurice was in high profile, and high gear. An urban fantasy series published by Angry Robot. Appearances in high profile magazines. He edited two volumes of the critically acclaimed Dark Faith. He seemed primed for the next step.

And then, it seemed like - to outward appearances - that he slowed down. He didn't go away. Selling a short story to Asimov's doesn't mean "going away." And things started percolating again with the release of his novella Buffalo Soldier from TOR in 2017. Along the way, he also released a collection. 

Just recently, however - it all blew up for Maurice, with the release of his middle grade novel The Usual Suspects from HarperCollins, the first in a series, I believe. It also garnered a Publisher's Weekly Review. At the same time, his new novel, Pimp My Airship, released from Apex Books.

Maurice, it seemed, was back. Except he never left. Through it all, he worked as editor for Apex, he traveled to Cons, he kept writing. He remained active and positive on social media. Every time I've talked to him on the phone over the past three years, he talked about the stories he was writing, and the projects he was pitching. He never stopped, so he never went away.

Now. 

Maurice's life and his career is his, and mine is mine. It won't happen the same way for me. Even so, the lesson is still there. Keep going. Don't give up. Keep writing. Keep doing the work. Enjoy your place in the sun, and be involved with what you love. Selfishly, I'm not only thrilled for Maurice's successes, I'm thrilled about them. They've served as a timely life lesson, and inspiration.